Tuesday, April 26, 2011

V is for Vast

My theme for the A to Z Challenge: Desert Canyon Living



This is the Mojave Desert in California, a vast and rugged place. The photos in this post only cover about 50 miles from the small desert town of Mojave to the larger cities of Palmdale and Lancaster. The desert in these photos is about 3,000 ft above sea level.  Death Valley, the lowest, hottest place in the United States is also located in the Mojave Desert


In spring, many parts of the high desert are covered in flowers. 


The sky is vast in the desert. Once I saw a sunrise here, coloring the desert pink with a blue haze surrounding the mountains. It was one of the most beautiful moments in my life. After that, I was in love with this place.


Here gray rabbitbrush line the highway.


Some vegetation looks bad with dried out branches, barely alive.


Mountains border the Mojave.  


 Buttes and mesas rise up from the desert floor.


 Highways cut through it.


Cities are built in it.


This is such a small slice of the Mojave Desert, but I think that even the 50 miles that I most often drive will give you a sense of how vast it is.

15 comments:

  1. i'm sure i'd get used to it if i lived nearby, but it seems so endless to me and a bit intimidating with its austereness. :)

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  2. It never ceases to amaze me...land like that. So barren - yet not, so beautiful and yet needs to be respected.
    Thanks for your photos!

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  3. I had forgotten how hypnotic driving on a really flat terrain is. Inland Florida is like that. Here, you are lucky to go a car length with out turning while going either up or down. You could drive on autopilot in the desert.

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  4. Beautiful pictures ~ it does look very Vast ~ Ally x

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  5. When I was little that desert seemed to go on and on. Never ending.

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  6. How vast nature is--& how small & insignificant is man!! Beautiful photos, Inger.

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  7. It's beautiful in its own way.

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  8. The beauty is more subtle, isn't it, but there for the eye that would see. Lovely!

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  9. This is beautiful! If it weren't for the snakes and the tarantulas I would love to live there.

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  10. A beautiful post. Your posts make me appreciate South Dakota. I grew up there and never saw the beauty of the flat land when I was young. Now I do and You've helped. Thank you.

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  11. Oh my gosh, these photos are amazing!

    I just discovered your blog through A-Z and I'm so glad I did. I'm looking forward to catching up with the rest of your posts.

    I'm an animal lover and love the photos of your dogs and other animals. It's great to meet you! :)

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  12. Awesome photographs! Thanks for posting them.

    They take me back. I'm in Virginia now permanently but I grew up in the West. Ah, those trips from Salt Lake to St. George, from St. George to California, from St. George to Arizona--by car each time. Those long desert stretches. Vast open spaces indeed. They're in my psyche forever.
    Ann Best, Memoir Author

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  13. I just love the wide open roads as we drive through desert lands. I lived in Texas as a little girl and we drove through the hot desert--much like this. I loved daydreaming at the scenes!

    ♥.•*¨Elizabeth¨*•.♥

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Thanks for leaving a comment.. ~~ Inger

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